


Love is a Pain

by Wolfs_Ayame



Category: Free!
Genre: Adorkable, Coming Out, Dorks in Love, First Kisses, Firsts, Fluff, Haru is sweet, It's always Nagisa's fault, M/M, Makoto is devious, Physical Pain, Poor Rei, Rin is a potty mouth, Sousuke is a jerk, first aid kits, klutzRin!, pathetically love sick, rin is a cry baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7121827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfs_Ayame/pseuds/Wolfs_Ayame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a month of almost killing himself by accident, Rin has an epiphany, with Sousuke's help, about what is going on. </p><p> </p><p>(Based on a writing prompt: Person B is a total klutz and drops things, hurts themselves, spills things, and Person A carries around a first aid kit for them.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> I had a ton of fun writing this! Getting to imagine Rin as a male version of my self (I trip over my own shadow on a regular basis) was quite amusing. I took this post Australia, but pre graduation.

There was something very, very, wrong with one Matsuoka Rin these days. He found himself on the receiving end of Murphy’s Law. You know the one, if it can go wrong it will, and for him, that meant epic failures. The poor 17 year old was at the mercy of some incredibly unfair circumstances as of late, and it would most likely end with his imminent death or the rest of his life in a wheelchair if it kept up. 

So far, in the last week alone, he had managed to sprain an ankle on a jog; rip his favorite pair of jeans when he tripped over his own feet; hit his head so hard on his bunk that Sousuke thought he knocked himself out, and let’s not forget to mention how bruised up he was for numerous slips and falls in the natatorium at practice. 

His teammates had dubbed him Captain Grace at this point and he was beyond frustrated, or more so, embarrassed, to the point that he was afraid to leave his dorm. This had been going on for a good month at this point, so it really was quite a miracle that he had not landed his ass in a hospital yet, or broken a bone. If he didn’t get things figured out soon he was pretty sure he would spend his third year in a body cast at this rate. 

“Dude. What. The. Fuck is going on with you these days?” Sousuke asked as he hung his head over the bunk to look down at the red head, who was currently in the process of icing his ankle again. 

Rin jumped as the head of his oh so supportive, mostly jackass, best friend leered at him upside down and pulled him out of the daydream he had lost himself in. There was a slight thump as he groaned and rubbed his elbow that now added to his, currently, uncomfortable existence. 

“Tsk” he clicked and shifted red eyes to the pair of teal that looked back at him with a smirk. 

“Fuck if I know man, but I am incredibly over it!” He shifted the icepack slightly before he leaned back against his bed and placed his hands behind his head with a deep sigh. 

“All I know is that I need some more painkillers here soon because this bitch is starting to throb.” He whined and winced at the dull ache that had started again in his ankle. 

“There has to be some common factor here Matsuoka. Come on, what sort of friend would I be if I didn’t help you figure it out?” The black haired boy really couldn’t help himself, this had been a source of some fantastic entertainment for weeks now. 

There was a sudden –WHUMP- as a pillow connected with his face, skillfully aimed by the redhead who pouted below him. “Fuck off Sou.” 

Sousuke really couldn’t help but laugh at this point. Rin had sat up and adjusted his foot, his ankle elevated on a couple of extra pillows with his arms crossed over his t-shirt covered chest, he pouted like a petulant child. 

‘God,’ Sou thought to himself,’ he is so –fucking- clueless!’ 

He was torn between flat out explaining to Rin what was causing his recent plight, or absolutely reveling in the sight of his best friend being made to suffer a bit longer. Well, it wasn’t hard to figure out which course of action he would take. To be honest, he, and a few others, had already figured out the common denominator to Rin’s recent unintended self-harm, and it was quite amusing to watch him blunder through blindly. 

Hell, it was actually that blond tyrant from Iwatobi who had actually pointed it out to him, and the other boys of the group, what it looked like to him. 

“Rin-chan is in love!” He exclaimed excitedly with those terrifying pink eyes sparkling wildly. 

While both Rin and a certain blue eyed half dolphin swam laps together, the small monster announced his thoughts on the entire mess. He had noticed that whenever Rin (chan) injured himself it usually involved the presence of one Nanase Haruka. 

-Light bulb click on- 

It made complete sense now. 

The four-eyed butterfly, -Rei was it?- tried to find the logic in it all and started to talk about how being love-sick, or in Rin’s case being a complete idiot in love, was just some chemical reaction –blah blah blah (Sou had started to tune him out already)-. 

Of course, when faced with something that could cause trouble, Nagisa was all over it, and the world should live in fear when that boy gets an idea. The blond was suddenly inspired to, not just prove Rei wrong, but to see if he was right (and take some enjoyment in torturing Rin in the process). Makoto, who was a fucking innocent angel, most of the time, apparently had quite the devious side to him as well. Sousuke blushed when he remembered the conversation with the green eyed boy, who agreed to go along with Nagisa’s plan as long as Sou was behind it. 

“Fuck yeah, I like to see him suffer!” He had blurted out, which was followed by a flush to his cheeks. 

Makoto looked at Sousuke and hid a bubble of laughter behind his hand as Nagisa figured out a plan to get Rin to spend as much time around Haruka as possible. As much as that idea really annoyed him, he couldn’t help but seek out enjoyment from watching his childhood friend act like a love struck fool, and score some great blackmail stories for future use against the red head. 

“Sou, you are an asshole,” Rin started as he leaned back again on his bed with a groan, “But, I would love to hear your theory as to why I am on the receiving end of some pretty shitty karma here.” 

Oh, yes, this would be good! Sou’s face disappeared from the edge of the top bunk and his large form lumbered down from the ladder to sit himself on the side of Rin’s bed. 

“Alright dumbass, since you asked so nicely.” He fought the urge to poke at the frozen pack on Rin’s ankle, but honestly, this would be even more fun than physical torment. 

“What were you doing when you sprained your ankle?” He asked nonchalantly. 

“Fuck, I was jogging, you know that. Haru and I had met up for an evening run and I took a step just right, or wrong, on a rock that I didn’t see and down I went.” The red head winced as he remembered the incredibly ungraceful spill he took after he rolled the joint of his left foot. It really fucking hurt, and not just his body, but his pride as well. Haru had to hoist him up on his back and carry him back to his place to ice and wrap the inured foot. 

Thankfully, Rin had already turned in an overnight request that day, so he was then “forced” to stay the night with Haruka, who spent the entire time taking care of the boy. A flush of pink came across his cheeks as he remembered the idiot had made him actual steak for dinner that night and brought it to him on the couch. Regardless of his protests, Haru wouldn’t let him do a damn thing, which was kind of sweet. 

“..In….Earth to Rin…Come in Rin…” Sousuke teased, he totally saw the light blush that touched Rin’s sharp features. ‘He is so stupid sometimes’ he thought to himself before he pressed on. 

“Fuck off man!” Rin hissed and turned his face away, pretty sure he had been caught in his little daydream again. He really needed something to help with the pain that started to get worse, he knew he had spent far too much time up on it and he probably shouldn’t have tried to dive at practice today either. 

Sousuke smirked and started to get up off the bed, “Ok man, it’s your funeral!” 

“Wait wait, no, I’m sorry Sou!” He pouted again and gave his best friend the kicked puppy look, “It’s just really starting to hurt again, can you hand me the meds the nurse gave me?” 

‘Hook, line, and sucker!’ Sousuke thought as he nodded. When he grabbed the brown bottle from the shelf he shook it and heard the rattling of the strong pain medication inside. As he tossed it on the bed he handed his friend the bottle of water from his desk. Once he settled back down he waited and watched the red head toss back a pill with a swallow of the liquid. 

“Ok, now explain to me how you biffed it and tore out the ass of those way to tight black jeans of yours?” The teal eyed boy asked as he tried to hide the pure enjoyment of this situation by giving Rin his most serious look. 

“Really man? I told you already! I was jogging up the path to Haru’s house when I tripped over this really adorable little white cat that hangs out on the steps. My feet got tied up and when I landed and I managed to find the sharp edge of the step! It was so fucking embarrassing! My damn boxers in full view of the neighbors!” 

That one stung, not only had he scored a really pretty bruise and scrape on his ass cheek, but he ripped out his favorite skinny jeans. The ones that hugged every bit of his muscular legs and accentuated his backside perfectly, it was quite the tragedy in his world. “Thank God Haru had some damn sweats I could borrow till I got back here!” 

“So, then can you make me understand how the hell you almost managed to knock yourself out on your own damn bunk last week?” God this was fun, and Sousuke showed no signs of stopping. This would go until Rin either figured it out or the pain medication kicked in to knock his ass out. He –really- hoped the dawning realization would occur after it kicked in, but before it knocked him out completely. Then he would have to sleep on the epiphany and get himself all worked up over it in a narcotic induced haze. 

Rin groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose and leered over to his so called best friend. “What the hell is this? The Spanish inquisition?” He glared at Sousuke before he let out a huff, “You were here man. You know damn well that I must not have been paying attention as I was texting. Haru –never- texts back so I was shocked and totally misjudged where the ladder was. “ 

“OK, yeah, but you never really did tell me how you managed to come back with your arm all scraped up the other night. What caused that one?” 

There was a flicker in Rin’s red eyes, and Sousuke hoped it was the start of things coming to light in the boys brain, “You know that really cute white cat I tripped over, well I think it’s out to get me because It was all lovey and sweet the other day when I went to go study with the guys. So we were sitting outside on the deck when it came up and started to rub all over my legs, so, I picked it up.” He paused for a moment and rubbed the scratches, thankful they were no longer so tender. “Well, when I picked it up, Nagisa spilled his strawberry fizzy thing all over me and the cat, which caused said white cat to turn pink and dig his fucking claws in to my arm before he scampered off. Haru ended up loaning me that damn loosey-kun shirt while he washed mine and patched me up. God, Nagisa is a damn klutz, I swear!” 

Rin’s eye brows narrowed a bit in thought, and Sousuke could swear he could see his best friend start to wake up. Maybe he wasn’t the dumbest smart guy he knew, maybe he was just really, really, slow. 

“Sou, I am really confused.” Rin blinked a couple times as his gazed shifted to lock on to his best friends teal eyes, “None of these incidents have anything in common, right? What does any of this have to do with….me…getti…oh.” 

Rin’s eyes went as wide as saucers, the red of his irises started to blur as his gaze shifted from Sousuke to his hands. His jaw opened to say something, but snapped it shut quickly as he felt an incredibly hot blush spread across his cheeks. “Oh, fuck.” Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he said it out loud or in his head, but holy shit fucking Christ, “I can’t be….it’s just a fucking crush…right?” Oh gods, he could feel his heart as it thundered under his rib cage, and Sousuke had no idea how it was possible to turn ever redder, but Rin managed it. 

As his friends face turned from scarlet to fire, Sousuke couldn’t help but let out a laugh that boomed through the dorm room. He was pretty sure anyone in the vicinity more than likely heard his laughter as he slipped off the side of Rin’s bunk to the floor with a thud. As his arms wrapped around his stomach the tears started to form in his teal eyes his cheeks hurt as he laughed uncontrollably at his best friend’s expense, none the less, and started to lose his breath. 

Rin would have nailed him in the face with a pillow, kicked his shin, or something to make him stop. Alas, the pain pill was doing its job, which, in turn, caused his brain to completely short circuit with this newly realized information. He was even to distracted to even spare a few brain cells to start to plot his revenge. 

“Oh….Oh…..fuck…” was all he could stammer out as he continued to just stare at his fists balled up in his lap, then shifted his gaze to the floor. “Fucker, you’re getting way to much enjoyment out of this.” He squeaked out, which was quite reminiscent of a 13 year old version of himself. 

Rin was at a total loss for words now, which is a completely rare occurrence that may have signaled hell freezing over. 

Sousuke finally calmed down, his face bright red and his teal eyes danced with merriment as he watched the tickertape of Rin’s thoughts go across his face. Five stages of realization, or was that grief, either way, this was too much, especially when he considered how bad his shoulder hurt right now from all the laughing. 

“God man! You are so dense sometimes! Fucking hell! I need to thank Nagisa for talking me in to this little plan of his!” 

Rin’s gaze snapped to the dark haired boy on the floor and glared daggers at him. “What the fuck are you talking about? Am I the last one to know?” He growled as he bared his shark like teeth. This was his typical reaction to things that made him embarrassed, uncomfortable, or sometimes, just because he could. 

There was a snort of laughter again from the floor as Sousuke stood up and wiped the tears from his face before he clasped his friend on the shoulder, “Yes. I am pretty sure even Haru has figured it out at this point! For fuck sake Rin, I am pretty sure the boy has a first aid kit with your damn name on it!” 

“Tsk, does not” he hissed as he quickly turned his head to the side. Rin had started to feel the medication kick in, which meant that he had started to feel a bit floaty and sleepy. Great, now he had to deal with a couple of things while his brain was mush. 

First of all, the fact that not only did everyone else know about his huge ass crush on Haru, but that said crush knew how Rin felt. This also meant that he had to deal with his sexuality, which was a fairly daunting issue in itself. Wait. If everyone knew about Haruka, then that means…. 

“Oh holy fucking fuck. Sou, so that means,” He choked on the words and stumbled a bit before they finally came out of his mouth, “pretty much, everyone knows I’m pretty fucking gay, huh?” He could feel his heart start to race and hands balled up in to the comforter at his side in to tight fists. Great, he really didn’t want to deal with the judgment and stares he would receive. Talk about being pushed out of the proverbial closet! He was going to blame Nagisa for this, it is always Nagisa’s fault. 

“For fucks sake, Rin. We have figured you were at least bi for a while now! You never bring girls around, I have never seen you date, plus you pretty much only have eyes for Nanase! Not that you were discrete about that last part one bit.” He could see the red head silently struggle internally, and sighed before he placed a large hand on Rin’s shoulder again, “Don’t worry about it. Besides, I’m pretty fucking gay myself. Plus, you really think you would be the only one, in an all-boys school, that specializes in athletics and is a swimming powerhouse?” 

Red eyes blinked as his head snapped to look at Sousuke again. The look of shock danced across his face before the realization that his best friend had just come out to him clicked in his brain. A sly grin slid across his face and exposed those strangely sharp teeth before the slurred words of “I knew it! You asshole, why didn’t you tell me sooner?” 

The dark haired boy just shook his head with a smile and a light laugh. “Rin, it is not something I really advertise, not that I keep it a secret, but, yeah. I just wanted you to know that you are not in this alone Besides, I was going to tell you eventually.” 

The smile he gave his friend was sweet and sincere, Rin probably would have made some smart ass retort if he wasn’t so high right now, but it was incredibly comforting to him. 

“Dude, your drugs are kicking in, I am crawling in. Good night.” He nodded and ascended the ladder so he could curl up in his sheets and pass out, his body still ached from having spent the last hour laughing his ass off at Rin. 

This left a very hazy Rin to deal with some pretty heavy thoughts on his own. Well, kind of. There was a smirk that shifted in to a smile as his eyes slowly closed and settled in to his bed. His final thoughts before sleep were of a beautiful pale skinned boy who had the most perfect smile, with eyes that looked like the deep ocean. He felt his heart speed up in his chest before his breaths became slower, and his over worked brain finally shut itself off.


	2. It's a Date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin has finally figured out the root of his problem, but can he survive the week and make it through joint practice with out killing himself?

Thankfully Rin had gone the last few days fairly accident free, meaning that he only stubbed his bare toe once at regular practice, but managed to keep himself in one piece. He really needed to talk to Haruka and get this shit figured out, and soon. The ankle sprain was finally not as obvious and he was able to dive off the blocks without much pain, which was a god send. But as the planned joint session with Iwatobi loomed over him in a couple days, he found himself wondering if he could swim in bubble wrap. 

There was a knot in his stomach and his poor brain was imagining the many ways in which he could end up either in the hospital or the morgue by the end of the week. 

The day of their practice together he –carefully- jogged up to Haru to talk to him, he had to address his club before hitting the water. He noticed that his so-called “best friend” was already with the other team and seemed to be quite interested in one Tachibana Makoto, of whom he was giving the rundown of the conversation between him and Rin. 

Rin’s cheeks flushed that vibrant red for a moment as he glanced at the group and sucked in a nervous breath before he closed the distance. It took mere seconds before he was met by a slightly damp Nagisa hurling himself on to Rin. The little blond whirlwind slung his arms around his neck and wrapped his legs around his Torso, all while he giggled madly. Damn this kid was like a freaking howler monkey, with a grip to match! 

Normally, a flying Nagisa hug was not an issue for Rin to handle, but today was not a normal day apparently. Things had been going so well the past few days, but without much of a warning the tackle hug sent both of them in to the water. As he came to the surface the little tyrant had dislodged and was laughing hysterically as Rin sputtered and spat the fluid from his lungs while he glared at the little monster. 

“Awwweee…Rin-chan! I’m just trying to help!” He sniggered. There were words someplace in his throat, but they would not come out as his jaw opened, then closed and his head cocked to the side inquisitively. 

It wasn’t until Nagisa started to climb out that Rin realized what he meant. There was the sudden presence of calmness behind him and he spun around to be met with a pair of azure eyes peering at him from just above the water. 

It caught him off guard and he jumped backwards, which in turn caused him to not just fall but to slip under the water and tag his shoulder on the wall. For the second time with in minutes he came up to the surface of the water unhappily. 

“FUCK! Haru! I swear to god, you need to wear a bell sometimes!” He stammered as he rubbed his shoulder and winced, the chlorine burned in his nose and lungs while his eyes blurred slightly. 

“Rin, “ Haruka let his eyes shift to the other boys shoulder, his voice smoothly calm as he reached out his hand and touched the red mark that started to form. 

“You need to be more careful.” 

He grazed his fingers across Rin’s shoulder with a soft brush before he pulled away and huffed slightly, “You are such a klutz these days.” 

He could feel a scarlet blush creep over his face as he snapped his head to side and muttered, “Shut up Haru.” A pair of blue eyes rolled as he swam to the edge of the pool to climb out, but he paused a moment to look over the solid form of a very red Rin who was still had a hand on his shoulder with a pout that tugged at his mouth. 

Haru sighed softly and looked to Rin’s face to catch his eyes before he spoke, “Tomorrows Saturday, come over. I am cooking steaks since someone seems to think I need a change in my diet.” He glared, but in the depths of his eyes was a playful glean directed at the red haired boy beside him. 

Rin blinked a couple of times as he squeezed his shoulder lightly, “Ye…yeah. I will see you tomorrow then, and I am going to guess, with tests a few weeks out, that I will be helping with English huh?” 

A smile tugged at the edge of Haruka’s mouth as he nodded before he pulled himself up out of the pool. 

Practice went off without much further incidence, which Rin took as a good sign. When the day was done, and everyone else had made their exit to the locker rooms, Rin and Haru stayed behind. The two boys spent the next 45 minutes in the water, flirtation under the guise of racing honestly, and Rin won 3 times to Haru’s 4, and one tie between them. They both floated in the water at the end of one of the lanes, their laughter echoing in the mostly empty natatorium. 

As they finally got out of the pool they noticed that Makoto and Sousuke were locked in conversation on the bleachers while Rei tried to keep Nagisa from doing god only knows what as he seemed to have been working on a plot of some sort with Momo. Poor Nitori had been trying to control the bubbling redhead, but much like Rei’s plight, it was not working. 

The Iwatobi boys retreated out the gates when Sousuke and Rin walked them out towards the train station. The red head leaned against the brick of the gate entrance with his hands shoved in the pocket of his hoodie as he watched Haru leave, a bit of a smile softened his sharp features as the boys disappeared in the sunset. 

Suddenly there was a very sharp elbow jabbed in to his ribs and he yelped “What the FUCK! That hurt bastard,” He growled, “I do not need help getting hurt these days!” 

“Yeah, yeah, but you survived joint practice again today, so don’t bitch too much. Plus you have a date with Nanase tomorrow, so your day wasn’t that bad, now was it?” Sousuke smirked as he turned on his heel and shoved his own hands in his pants pockets as he sauntered off towards their dorm. 

Rin huffed and pushed off the bricks and caught up to his best friend. There was a sly smirk that formed on his lips as he leered up to the teal eyed teen, “So… What’s up with you and Makoto?” 

Sousuke about tripped as his eyes went wide and a light blush kissed at his cheeks, “No...Nothing.” He stammered a bit too eagerly. 

“Mhhm…” Rin hummed with a nod, he was going to pray to every God known to man that his ass hole of a best friend would soon deal with the same misfortune causing emotions, oh paybacks would be so fucking amazing in this situation.


	3. All is Fair in Love....?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can he survive any actual time near Haru or is he just screwed?

His alarm clock on his cellphone started to go off, the song some obnoxious band from the U.S that Rin recently discovered. Sousuke was going to change that tone come hell or high water, and soon. Whatever the strange popish noise was, it was not music, and it always made him wake up cranky. Rin finally rolled out of bed around 8:30am, this was his version of sleeping in considering he was usually up around 6 to go for a jog before classes. 

He could feel his stomach twist as his brain started to function and remembered he would be off campus tonight with his friends at Haru’s. Last night, after a rousing conversation with Sousuke, more like he teased the hell out of him about Makoto, he had turned in his off campus request. 

The day went by pretty fast, he had gone on his jog, showered, and broke out some of his homework. Sousuke spent most of the morning teasing him about his plans with Haru, and Rin tried to convince Sou, and maybe himself a bit, that the other guys would be there too. 

“Just don’t bite him when you kiss him Rin, you might scare him off.” Sou had teased. 

“FUCK OFF!” Rin barked as he blushed wildly again, he imagined what it would be like to kiss Haru’s lips, would they be as soft as they looked? Has he kissed anyone before? Before he knew it he turned in his chair just right (or is that wrong?) and got his foot caught up under one of the legs when he tried to get up. He landed with a loud THUD on his ass when he hit the floor and glared up at Sousuke when he burst out with laughter again. 

“You are not my friend anymore.” He said defiantly, which made Sou laugh even harder. 

He got up off the floor and dusted himself off before he started to pack some clothes for his night out. Before he knew it the clock was close to 1pm which gave him about a half hour before he had to catch the train in to Iwatobi to go hang out with the other boys. His heart did a stutter step with a flip in his chest when he realized he would see Haru very soon and then silently prayed that he didn’t do anything to totally embarrass himself or land him in the emergency room before he could confess. 

Wait, confess? Rin gulped in some air and looked for his water as his throat went suddenly dry. Sousuke could see his best friend suddenly go very pale and broke him out of his thoughts before they got to dangerous. 

“Dude, don’t chicken out. You are going, and for the benefit of your own safety and health, you have to tell him.” Sou was trying to sound as supportive as possible, but inside he was still laughing at the other teen at his predicament. 

Rin tossed the last few things he needed in his bag as he muttered “I know, I know. I want my mother and sister at my graduation, not my funeral.” 

When Sou stood up he came up behind Rin and clasped both hands on the red head boy’s shoulders with a light squeeze. “Dude, you have nothing to worry about. From what Makoto has told me, he is pretty fucking gay for you too. “ 

There was a cocking of a red eye brow when Sousuke used Makoto’s name so casually, oh he really wanted to know what was going on with those two now! But he just didn’t have time to harass or interrogate his friend if he wanted to make the bus to Iwatobi. The Samezuka jacket he wore was zipped up over his torso, which hid the black muscle shirt he work under it. Yeah, he was a bit vain, but he knew he looked good in the dark blue jeans he wore, they were almost as tight as his ruined black pair. So his ass was quite nicely accentuated in the denim. He made sure his wallet was in his back pocket, chain clasped to his belt loop in the front, and hoisted the duffle bag up over his shoulder with a grin. 

“I’m out Sou. Text you later.” He smiled and headed out the door, “And Be prepared to talk to me about this little crush you have on Makoto when I get back ass hole!” 

“Shut up Rin! “ Sou smirked and leaned back in his chair, he almost lost the fight to blurt out something inappropriate like ‘Use protection kids’, but he knew Rin was already nervous enough about the situation. 

Rin arrived about an hour later at the station near Haru’s house and he could feel this incredible lump in the back of his throat that made his stomach turn in to hundreds of knots. He sucked in a breath as he disembarked and stepped on to the plat form. Once he turned his head towards the street he saw a familiar mop of dark hair as he walked the path home. A smirk tugged at Rin’s lips as he slung his bag over his shoulder and picked up to a jog. 

“Haru!” He yelled out as his pace started to increase once he saw those familiar blue eyes turn and meet his. 

‘Fuck, how does he manage to look so fucking cute?’ Rin asked himself as he approached the other boy. His eyes swept over Haruka’s form as he felt his cheeks turn a soft shade of pink and categorized the view of the dark haired boy in tight jeans slung low on his hips. The blue and white Iwatobi jacket rested just right at his waist as his hands carried a couple plastic bags from the local market. 

“You’re early.” He said with that stoic face, but his eyes said something very different. They swirled like the ocean on a stormy day, but there was a peaceful calm that made Rin’s heart stop and hiccup for a few beats. 

Rin padded up to him and held out a hand, “Let me help?” he asked with a smile and adjusted his own bag on the shoulder of his black jacket. 

It took a moment for Haru to respond, but he shook and swiftly turned his head away. Rin could have sworn he saw a touch of pink dusting the other boys cheek bones and quirked a brow inquisitively. “Alright, whatever, can’t say I didn’t offer!” 

Haruka paused and turned his face once more to meet Rin’s sanguine eyes as a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, “I can’t trust you not to drop them.” He muttered as he started to walk up the hill to the steps that led to his house. 

With a huff the redhead turned to follow and grumbled, “Not like I mean to be such a klutz lately.” Haru actually let a smile pass his face as Rin came up beside him, he too had become quite amused at the other boys recent misfortunes, but he was a bit more subdued about it. 

Rin made him nervous, but not in a bad way, and honestly, there had been feelings for the smart ass loudmouth since they were kids. Not that he knew what they meant, but he had been crushed when he lost contact with the boy. 

Maybe one day he would tell Rin the truth, that he had cried in the shower of his grandmother’s house, shaking with sobs, the day that Rin turned his back on him at the pool. He felt like a piece of him had been taken away, and he didn’t know if he would ever get it back. That was when it became harder for him to trust, and much harder for him to make friends, if it wasn’t for Makoto, he probably would have spent middle school alone. 

Haru shook his head of the thoughts of the past, because now they had something of a future. Even if they didn’t know what it held for them, at least they could face it as friends, at the least. His attention else where he didn’t realize that Rin had slowed behind him and knelt on the ground to wiggle his fingers and make kissy noises to try to make amends with the little white cat on the steps. 

Their reunion went well as he scooped the little fur ball up in to his arms and scratched his head till a soft purr rumbled from its throat. Haru paused to watch as Rin’s features softened in the afternoon sunlight, and it stole his breath. Bright yellow rays danced over his tanned features as his lips curled in to a sweet smile, one that not many but a special few have ever seen. Sanguine eyes softened just enough as he gently pet the cat in his arms until it jumped down. 

Rin glanced up and realized that there was a pair of azure eyes locked on him and he instantly felt warmth touch his face. He stood up and dusted his knees off before he peered up at Haru from under his fringe of red hair, “Don’t tell a soul Haru.” He muttered. 

“Hmm…mhm..” Haruka nodded sagely, “Wouldn’t want to ruin your hard ass reputation now would we?” He dead panned at the boy before he turned and headed up the steep, rocky steps to his place. 

Honestly, Rin was caught off guard by the comment and blinked at the person in front of him, completely distracted by the sarcasm oozing from the others voice. “Hey, I gotta keep somethings secret!” he retorted as he jogged up the steps to catch his friend, a smile still at his lips as he relished the rare minutes of alone time with him. 

It was in that moment that Rin suddenly wished that he had remembered to be more careful with his current predicament that loomed over him. Before he realized what had happened he found himself on the ground just outside of the genkan with a tear in the knee of his jeans and a horrible sensation coming from his wrist, of which he noticed, had some small pebbles embedded in the skin. 

“You have GOT to be fucking kidding me, right?” He groaned as the ache in his wrist finally reached the nerve center of his brain and turned on the ‘fuck that hurts’ switch. He could feel tears prick at the corner of his eyes as he bit in to his lower lip, apparently hard enough to draw a bit of copper flavored blood. 

Suddenly there was a hand in front of him that pulled him up and felt an arm slip around his waist that pulled him close. Haru’s brows where furrowed in concern, Rin could see the worry cross his features, but what came out of his mouth made the red head burst in to laughter. 

“That,” Haru started, “Is why I didn’t want you to carry the bags, what is it they call you? Captain Grace?” 

“Shut up Haru.” He said with a laugh as he was helped with a limp in to the house and was deposited on the couch. 

Haruka just smirked at his friend and retrieved the bags which he took to the kitchen. Rin could hear him rustling around as he put things away before he came back out with one of the bags still in hand and an ice pack. 

“Let me see your wrist.” He reached out and captured Rin’s hand in his and started to look for any serious damage. The red head winced and turned his head to hide the blush on his cheeks as he felt smooth fingers touch across the joint and inspect the small rocks that needed to be removed. There was a sudden thunder that boomed in his chest and ears as he tried to ignore how incredibly delicate the blue eyed boy was being with him, his mind started to wander. How would those soft finger tips feel against his skin, or if his lips where as delicate as they looked? 

“Rin, you’re blushing.” Haru remarked as he cast his gaze to sweep over the others sharp facial features, not that he noticed his cheeks had a soft dust of pink across them. 

There was a swallow of air as Rin shifted, and tried to calm the rage of hormones that suddenly flooded his body. His inner voice was reprimanding him quite harshly and he kept chanting in his head ‘Fuck man, keep it together.’ 

There was a sudden coldness to his wrist as Haru let go and gently brushed his fingers over Rin’s torn jeans with a sigh, “You have got to be running out of your own cloths by now Rin, at least this time you didn’t flash my neighbors your damn shark boxers.” 

“Fuck off.” He muttered. The breath he didn’t realize he had held came out and he felt the muscle in his thigh twitch as the blue eyed boy ran a hand over his leg. Soft fingers danced across his knee he squirmed and fought a bit of a giggle, “dude, that fucking tickles!” 

Haru abruptly sat up on his knees and looked into sanguine eyes as his hand reached up and cupped Rin’s face gently in his palm. His brows were furrowed softly as he ran a thumb over the boys lips with his head cocked to the side in concern at the puffy skin. “Did you bite your lip?” He asked softly as his gaze shifted back to Rin’s. 

It was quite obvious now that the red head was trying to deal with some internal struggle. His cheeks were the most vibrant shade of red Haru had ever seen, it almost rivaled the tone of his hair, but was much redder. He knew he was driving Rin mad at this point, and honestly, he loved it. The competitive nature of their relationship was always making one seek some upper hand, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth at this point. 

“You are enjoying this far too much Haru.” Rin stated as he looked back in to ocean like orbs just inches from his face. It was then that panic started to set in as he felt himself start to lean forward as he ached to close the gap between them. He lifted his free hand, the other with an ice pack trying to combat swelling in the joint, and softly brushed fingers through the dark fringe of Haruka’s hair before he cupped his face ever so gently. There was a sigh of relief when the blue eyed boy didn’t pull away but instead pressed his face in to the smoothness of the hand on his face, quite cat like in his response. 

Rin could feel his breath hitch and, with his voice just hardly above a whisper, asked “Haru, can I…may I…um…” 

Before he could even finish his sentence he felt the gentle brush of Haruka’s lips against his own and it sent a tingle of electricity through his entire body. 

Yeah, they were as soft as he had imagined. He tilted his head to that perfect angle before he leaned forward and captured the other boy’s mouth in a much better meeting of lips that softly melded together like a puzzle. Boldly, Rin parted his mouth and let his tongue slip out to lick Haru’s lower lip, seeking to be allowed entrance. 

A soft moan came from someone, it was like a deep purr from the depths of a throat as Haru gently opened his mouth and a much less chaste kiss began between the two of them. Lips crushed against each other as tongues danced in the wet caverns of warmth. Haru’s hands where now balled up in Rin’s Samezuka jacket as if he needed to hold on for dear life. He felt Rin’s fingers softly stroke his cheek before the kiss deepened further. 

Air. They both needed air, but neither one of them wanted to break the kiss. There was a soft whine from Haru as their lips broke and he let his forehead rest on the other boys shoulder and he panted softly, his fingers still tightly woven in the other’s coat. A breathless Rin could tell his cheeks where a fantastic shade of crimson, but he didn’t care as he gently pressed his lips to the pulse point on Haru’s neck with a soft hum. The pain in his wrist was now long forgotten and wrapped both his arms around the other boy’s shoulders to draw him closer. 

At some point Haru had ended up pressed between Rin’s knees as he was pulled in and started to pepper the red heads jaw with small kisses. Before he could press his mouth against Rin’s again he felt a warm breath whisper against his cheek with a nuzzle. “Wow…should have done that a while ago.” 

Haru sought out Rin’s lips with passion and a soft hum of “mmhhmm.” 

Once again they found themselves close, mouths now moved against each other as they found the right angle, noses no longer bumped together as they held tight to the moment of first’s. Both could only hear the sound of their hearts in their chests and it felt like the organ might beat right out of their rib cages. In their own world, their own moment, no one existed but them. 

It wasn’t until they heard a familiar squeal come from the living room entrance and a certain blond clapped excitedly, “About time!” was his remark. Well there was more, but Rei had put his hand over Nagisa’s mouth to muffle whatever else was going to come out. 

They broke apart in shock, both their faces flamed red as their gazes snapped to the small group that happened to include a smirking Sousuke, who stood next to Makoto. The green eyed boy was blushing as he laughed behind his hand and apologized for not having knocked, though he really didn’t look all that sorry to be honest. 

“Sorry to break up your little make out session, but I don’t think this is studying.” Sousuke grinned at his best friend. 

Rin buried his head in to Haruka’s shoulder and nuzzled up to his neck whining “Why are they our friends again?” he asked and laughed as he felt Haru huff in response to the comments from the others. 

“I still need to clean up your hand and you know where the sweats are.” Haru said before he stood up and looked at the group with that perfectly stoic face, though his cheeks where still dusted pink. 

Rin nodded and practically ran out of the living room and up the stairs, disappearing from view and conversation. 

Nagisa giggled as he finally broke away from Rei’s grasp, “Who made the first move? How was it? Is Rin-chan a good kisser?” Rei had recovered from the little tyrant getting free and trapped him once more in a head lock as Makoto and Sousuke burst out in laughter. 

Haruka sighed, but there was quite a twinkle in those deep blue eyes as he smirked, “I did. Good. And Yes, though not much to compare it too.” And with that straight face of his he turned on his heels and slipped off to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. 

Rin returned to the living room and glared those red eyes at Sou before he muttered “what the fuck are you doing here?” 

“oi, Rin-chan,” Sousuke started smugly, “This was all part of the plan my friend.” He grinned at his friend. 

“I am going to murder you in your sleep Sou-chan.” Rin smirked as he adopted Nagisa’s name for him, “I know where you sleep.” 

By this point Haru was back with the kit and led Rin back in to the living room by the good hand to make him sit back down. He pulled over the plastic bag he had brought in with him and opened it up. Rin quirked an eye brow as he looked at the contents of the bag and then watched him open the kit and read the label on top out loud “Shark Bite Kit.” It was that moment that he realized that Haru had bought stuff to restock a first aid kit that he kept specifically for him and started to laugh as the blue eyed boy started to pull out supplies to clean up his hand. 

“You are a shit Haru.” He smirked. 

“Shut up Rin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I had a blast writing it for one, though it took me about a week due to the recent additions of a 4 year old and 1 year old that we are now raising. Any ways, I really hope you got a good laugh out of it! Thanks for reading!
> 
> my tumblr is" wolfsflei.tumblr.com most of my artwork is there.


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